“Walking along Gaines Street or going through Midtown or having some coffee downtown, more and more often you’re seeing bikes locked to pretty much any type of street furniture they can find,” she says.

To free the street furniture from bicycle chains, Doherty says the city plans to raise $56,000 to fund the first phase of the program.

“So what we are trying to do is provide that bike parking so people don’t have to chain their bikes to traffic signs,” she says. “Hopefully, it will encourage more people to bike to their destinations.”

The Downtown Improvement Authority has enough funds to buy the first of the racks. The city will keep looking for sponsors to pay for the rest.